Chapter 8
CHAPTER 8
JACK
J ack couldn’t believe how fast the time was disappearing. With the heavy blanket of clouds still covering the horizon, the daylight had faded fast.
‘I’m so glad you didn’t try to drive home!’ said Jack, tugging the heavy living room curtains closed to keep the room nice and toasty.
‘Erm… yeah,’ said Caroline, nodding from her perch on the old sofa. ‘I think I’d be stranded somewhere out on the marshes right about now… and I really don’t fancy that much. For one thing, I don’t even have a blanket in the car, and for another… no food!’
Jack grinned at her as the statement elicited a rumble from the vicinity of her stomach.
‘Oh my god,’ she laughed, clutching her belly. ‘Don’t tell me you heard that?!’
He nodded. ‘Sorry.’
‘Smooth!’
Jack laughed. ‘Well, thanks to Brian, I can do something about that.’
‘I can’t believe I have to slum it here with you instead of going back to my flat,’ said Caroline with a sigh. ‘I mean - beachside house… film star – what a let-down!’
‘I’m just Jack,’ he said. ‘I might be a sub-par actor, but I promise to feed you. Is there anything else I can get you, though? Anything you need? It looks like you’re going to be staying the night.’
Caroline paused and Jack raised his eyebrows at the look of longing on her face. He swallowed.
‘Erm… what? What is it?’ he said, his stupid voice coming out all husky again.
‘Well… I happened to spot your frankly monstrous bathtub while I was gathering up the scripts earlier,’ she said.
Jack nodded as his brain scrambled to catch up with what she was saying. His mind had been wandering off in unexpected directions. He blinked hard, focussing on her lips and forcing himself to listen to what she was actually saying.
‘Would it be incredibly cheeky… I mean, as I’m stuck here anyway?’
He’d definitely missed a bit of that sentence. ‘Erm… you fancy a dip?’ he hazarded a guess.
‘Only if you don’t mind?’ she said quickly. ‘My place has just got this incredibly pathetic shower. It’s like standing under a dripping tap! You can barely turn around in it, and if you drop the soap, you’ve got to open the door to give yourself enough room to pick it up again and then the whole room fills with steam and—’
‘It’s fine!’ he said, his voice coming out in a kind of high-pitched squeak as he did his best not to picture Caroline reaching for a bar of soap in a steamy bathroom. ‘Sure… have a dip… of course!’
‘You certain?’ said Caroline, raising one eyebrow at him. ‘Sure it’s not… weird?’
Jack did his best to arrange his face into something natural while he dragged his thoughts firmly back out of the gutter. ‘Of course not. Go for it.’
If nothing else, it would give him the chance to get his head back on straight.
‘Thank you!’ she said, hopping to her feet and following him out into the hallway.
‘Oh – erm… towels,’ he said, doing his best not to think too hard about the fact that Caroline would be lounging in his bath before too long. ‘There’s a cupboard just to the left when you go into the bathroom – there’s a stack in there.’
‘Non-sandy ones?’ she said.
‘With any luck!’ said Jack. ‘Enjoy. I’ll rustle us up something to eat while you’re in there.’
‘Yay, even better,’ said Caroline. ‘You know… this is a pretty good hotel!’
Jack grinned at her and watched as she climbed up to the first floor. He couldn’t help himself – it was like he was rooted to the spot.
The minute Caroline disappeared around the corner, Jack gave himself a little shake and made a dash for the kitchen. He was sure he had plenty of time, but he wanted to pull together something a bit more impressive than his usual sandwich in front of the wood burner!
‘Thank heavens for Brian!’ he murmured, heading over to the fridge and opening the door.
It was packed to the gunnels with enough goodies to feed a family of five for the whole of Christmas. Brian had done a big enough shop that he could go to ground until the New Year if he wanted to…
‘Right, let’s see…’ he said, rooting around on the shelves.
There must be something he could cook using this lot that would impress Caroline. Not that he was trying to impress her, of course. This wasn’t a date, after all.
Or was it?!
Nope – definitely not a date.
‘Stop being an idiot, man!’ he huffed.
Jack had pretty much forgotten what it was like to go on a date… which was a bit weird considering the number of times over the last few years he’d had to pretend to be in love with various people in front of the camera. He hadn’t even liked some of them!
He’d always been careful to keep the line drawn between work and real life. As much as it was his job to make things look as real as possible on set, he’d never played the flirting game with his co-stars… not like some of them did for the publicity. They played up to the media for all they were worth, and Jack knew for a fact that several of them tipped the paps off themselves when they wanted some decent headlines in the celebrity rags.
Jack had never craved the attention that went with the job. That was why he’d bought this house in Crumbleton Sands. It was his safe haven. Whenever he wanted peace and quiet and a dose of reality, it was good to know he could come here and decompress from the madness. Here, he could swim in the sea looking like a tadpole wearing a Santa hat, and it wouldn’t be splashed all over the internet within seconds.
But… maybe he’d taken the whole isolation thing a little bit too far. It was one thing keeping his job and his private life separate, but it was another thing to completely cut himself off from the world to the point that loneliness had started to creep in like a bitter ache.
Caroline had turned up on his doorstep unannounced… and he’d let her in because – well – he’d simply been craving some human company.
Shock horror!
On top of that… she was even prettier in real life than she was in the photographs he’d seen online. He’d been intrigued to find out more about the funny, witty woman whose writing he’d been enjoying so much.
And now she’s in your bath!
Realising he was still standing with the fridge door wide open, Jack let out a long sigh. He didn’t have a clue what Caroline did or didn’t like. There wasn’t any point starting on food until he found out what she fancied.
‘Only one way to do that!’ he muttered.
Heading out of the kitchen, Jack jogged up the stairs and made his way towards his bedroom. The door was wide open – which was a blessing – at least it was one less thing to overthink!
Jack strode across the room, wincing at the sight of the sandy towel Caroline must have picked up and hung on the door of his wardrobe. Even worse, he realised there was still a discarded wetsuit in the corner of the ensuite. Ah well, it was too late to do anything about that right now.
Pausing right outside the door, he strained his ears. He could hear running water still sploshing into the tub.
‘Caroline?’ he called loudly.
There was a squeak, a splash, and then a flurry of movement.
‘Yeah?!’ came a surprised, decidedly flustered voice.
‘Sorry!’ he said. ‘I didn’t mean to make you jump. Don’t worry… I’m not coming in. I was just wondering if there’s anything you don’t eat or… any… you know… dietary requirements?’
Jack winced. Caroline might be the surprised one, but he was managing to get himself completely tongue-tied here.
‘Nope,’ she called, sounding decidedly relieved.
‘At all?’ said Jack, barely believing his ears.
‘Nope – I’m easy,’ said Caroline. ‘I mean… I… erm… all food’s good with me, thanks!’
Jack grinned. What a pair!
‘Okay cool. Erm… have a good bath.’
He backed away from the door as fast as his feet could carry him – mainly because the temptation to ask if he could join her was almost overwhelming. Not that he’d ever summon the courage to do anything of the sort, of course!
Taking the steps two at a time, Jack blew out a sigh of relief as he put a bit of distance between himself and the overwhelming desire to do something seriously embarrassing.
At least he had his answer… it sounded like Caroline would basically eat anything he put in front of her! It was almost too easy. Jack didn’t think he’d met anyone in years who didn’t have some kind of food quirk. A lot of his co-stars had nutritionists who kept them on tight and extremely weird eating plans. He had to admit, it drained a lot of the fun out of eating out when the person across from you wouldn’t order anything other than clear bone broth or a green smoothie!
Sliding to a halt in front of the fridge again, Jack promptly decided his best bet was to simply empty the contents onto the kitchen island so that they could just help themselves to anything they fancied. There was plenty of cheese, olives, cold meat, and chutney… in fact, Brian had clearly brought him the entire contents of Bendall’s deli counter.
After opening everything up and arranging it all on the stoneware plates his agent had sent him as a housewarming gift, Jack turned to open the large brown paper bag with the Crumbleton Bakery logo on the front. He stuck his nose inside and sniffed hungrily.
Jack’s stomach promptly growled as the scent of freshly baked bread almost made him pass out with joy. Was there a better smell than that – other than freshly ground coffee? He drew the large, round loaf out of the bag with a certain amount of reverence and set it on his wooden breadboard. Then he reached for the large, serrated knife and expertly sliced several generous chunks.
‘Olive oil and balsamic!’ he said, clicking his fingers and reaching for a dish so that he could slosh in the tasty mixture.
There, that would be perfect for some dipping action.
Along with the bread, Brian had collected a selection of cakes from the bakery. Flipping open the lid of the box, Jack stared at them hungrily. Doughnuts, stunningly iced cupcakes, gooey chunks of perfectly crusted lemon drizzle, and several stacks of cinnamon biscuits.
‘Heaven,’ he sighed. Then he promptly closed the box again before temptation got the better of him. He’d keep them for a bit later – with any luck, a nice pudding surprise would earn him some literal brownie points from his guest.
Pausing for a moment to survey the impressive spread, Jack wracked his brain for anything missing. Salt, pepper, sauces, napkins, forks, knives, plates…
‘Drinks, duh!’ he muttered.
Damnit!
He should have asked Caroline what she fancied while he was up there. He could go back up… but no doubt she’d be in the tub by now, and the last thing he wanted to do was to make her feel uncomfortable. Besides, it was best if there was at least one floor between them while she was… disrobed!
He could just ask her what she fancied when she came down. He had white wine in the fridge… and there were beers… and some kind of cordial stuff…
‘Okay, you’re spiralling, man,’ chuckled Jack. ‘Stop being a knob!’
Grabbing a cube of cheese, he popped it into his mouth and chewed, just to give himself something to do.
Okay… maybe he’d put the kettle on… and open a bottle of red so that it could breathe. Then he’d have all bases covered.